Stranger answers Bremerton woman's call for help

Betty Crickmer hugs Don Logan on Friday as he visits her Bremerton home. It was the first time the two had met after Logan had helped summon help for Crickmer after she had fallen in her home. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

BREMERTON ? May 9 seemed like any other morning for local Edward Jones financial adviser Don Logan.

He got to work around 6:30 a.m. and when the office phone rang about 30 minutes later he "just thought it was somebody who wanted to know about the market."

The woman on the other end, longtime Bremerton resident, 86-year-old Betty Crickmer, was not looking for financial advice though.

Lying in pain on her bedroom floor, Crickmer ? who had lost her balance and fell trying to get to the bathroom ? was desperately trying to get a hold of her daughter, Carol Frost, who lived nearby in Silverdale.

"I just kept pushing buttons," said Crickmer, who suffers from macular degeneration and couldn't see what she was dialing.

On her seventh or eighth try to call her daughter, Crickmer reached Logan on his office phone. Right away, he could sense she was in trouble.

"My dad's about your age, and I could sense something wasn't quite right. I felt your stress through the phone," Logan later told Crickmer.

He called her daughter, who phoned Crickmer's son at work and told him to immediately go home and check on her.

Within an hour of the fall, paramedics had Crickmer in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.

By 4 p.m. that day, she was getting surgery to replace her fractured left hip.

Crickmer spent several days in the hospital and then a week at Northwoods Lodge, where she received physical and occupational therapy.

Her mobility is still limited ? she won't be able to bend more than 90 degrees for at least a year, which has compromised the looks of the avid gardener's yard. But her doctor told her she's healing ahead of schedule.

"He said that she should be the poster child for hip replacement," Frost recalled Crickmer's doctor telling her.

The fall wasn't the first injury Crickmer's suffered in recent years ? she broke her right wrist in 2009 and again in 2010. But after this accident, she's taking some advice to better prepare herself should something like this happen again.

The biggest step was getting Lifeline, which has provided her with a great deal of security, especially during the hours her son is gone at work.

"She feels comfortable because she knows that somebody would be there right away. It's a security thing," Frost said.

Frost and Crickmer's other two children had been suggesting she get it for years, but it was finally her daughter's sister-in-law, who saw a pamphlet at Northwoods Lodge during Crickmer's stay and made the call.

"Lifeline is an excellent resource for someone who is living alone," Northwoods Lodge director of rehabilitation Debbie Griffin said.

"We see a lot of people who end up being down in their apartment for a long time before someone gets to them," Griffin said. "Our fall risk goes up as we age."

In addition to Lifeline, which can aid someone in case of an accident, Griffin also suggests several preventive measures.

She suggests putting nightlights in halls, which can be particularly helpful for people like Crickmer with macular degeneration and other vision problems.

She also said to remove throw rugs and observe a 15-second transition period before moving.

"If they've been lying down, they should sit on the edge of the bed for about 15 seconds ? wait to feel steady before they get up to move," Griffin said.

She also encourages people to stay active and have a walking program as they get older.

"Anyone over age 65 should really consider these things," Griffin said. "Our balance begins to change, and our reaction time changes as we get older. A lot of people are just walking around in their house, so they lose some of their ankle strength and ankle mobility, and that's what helps to keep you from falling."

Crickmer's doctors encouraged her to be as active as possible, but she recognizes her limitations.

She can't keep up with her 5-year-old granddaughter, who has dolls and toys waiting for her in Crickmer's living room.

Crickmer also hasn't been able to get to Logan's office to thank her hero.

On Friday, Logan made a trip to Crickmer's house.

Crickmer, had trouble fighting off tears that morning.

"I was so eager to meet you," Crickmer told Logan. "I just thank the good lord that I hit the right number and got you."